Hull of steel ships.



SIHOLMES.

HULL OF STEEL SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1913.

1,089,1 35, Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

SAMUEL HOLMES, 0F ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

HULL 0J5 STEEL SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 7, 1913.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914:. Serial No. 799,647.

1 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL HOLMES, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Hulls of Steel Ships, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the construction of the hulls of steel ships, and the object thereof is to provide a system of construction for the hulls of ships of this class which will simplify and render the said construction stronger and more durable, without addin to the expense thereof, and with this and ofiier objects in view, the invention consists in a construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

It is a Well known fact that the hulls of vessels of the class specified are provided with transverse bulkheads and bulkhead frames, by means of which the bulkheads are secured to the hull, and these bulkhead frames are usually composed of double angle irons, but in the case of tank ships, the said frames are what are known as single iron frames riveted to the shell of the hull and to the bulkheads, and the edges of the angle irons are calked to produce liquid tight joints, and the said hulls are also usually provided with central longitudinal bulkheads, and these bulkheads divide the hull into separate compartments. These bulkhead frames are the worst features in the construction of a steel hull, by reason of the fact that they necessitate a direct line of rivet holes running entirely around the hull in a transverse plane at each bulkhead, and the rivet holes are made close together in order to produce water tight joints. In the case of a tank ship in which the rivets are spaced three diameters apart, to 70% of the shell of the hull is punched away, and that in a line extending entirely around the girth of said hull at each bulkhead. This, of course, weakens the hull construction, in the transverse plane of the bulkheads, to such an extent that said hull is in danger, when placed under great strain, of breaking in two, but with my improvement, this fault in construction is largely obviated, if not entlrely done away with.

The invention described and claimed herein relates particularly to the use of what are known as flat or plain plate bulkheads wh1ch are more or less rigid and unyielding, and said invention consists primarily in connecting the bulkheads with the shell of the hull by means of rivets arranged in con tinuous S-shaped or zig-zag lines extending entirely around the hull and crossing the central plane of the bulkheads.

In a prior U. S. Patent, granted to me October 21, 1913, N 0. 1,076,208, I have shown, described and claimed, a bulkhead construction for ships in which I accomplish the objects and aims of the invention described and claimed herein, in connection with the use of resilient bulkheads, or bulkheads composed of sheet metal and all, or parts of which were formed with, or provided with, parts which are corrugated, trough-shaped or S-shaped in cross section, which parts abut endwise against the hull and are secured thereto by rivets arranged in continuous S-shaped or zig-zag lines extending entirely around the hull and crossing the central plane of the bulkheads; but in this application, my invention is applied, as hereinbefore stated, to what are known as fiat or plate bulkheads of any construction.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of one side portion of the hull of a steel ship provided with my improvement ;Fig. 2 an inside sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;Fig. 3 an outside view looking in the direction of the arrow 3 of Fig. 1;- Fig. 4c a perspective view of a bulkhead attaching plate which I employ, and a number of which are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 5 a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modified form of bulkhead attaching plate.

In the drawing forming part of this specification, I have shown at a one side of the hull of a steel ship made up of separate longitudinally arranged plates a in the usual manner, and I have also shown at b, a transverse bulkhead of the class known as flator plate bulkheads, and this bulkhead may consist of a single plate, or a plurality of plates rigidly connected, and said plates may be formed of, or from metal, or said bulkhead may be composed of wood braced or reinforced in the usual or any desired manner. I have also shown at a a deck of the ship or the hull, and in connecting the bulkhead b with the hull, or the shell there of, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I provide angle attaching plates 0 composed of two parts 0 and 0 The parts 0 of the attaching plates are curved and preferably semi-circular in form, while the parts 0 in the construction shown, are rectangular in form but may be of any other shape.

In carrying my invention into efiect, the angle plates 0 are arranged alternately on the opposite sides of the bulkhead so that the parts 0 hereof fit against the inner side of the hull or the shell thereof, and the parts 0 against the opposite sides of said bulkhead, and the end portions of the attaching plates overlap, as shown at 0 The parts 0 of the attaching plates are secured to the hull by means of rivets (Z arranged, in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, in continuous S-shaped or zig-zag lines extending entirely around the hull transversely thereof, and which cross the central plane of the bulkhead, as in the patent hereinbefore referred to.

The parts 0 of the angle attaching plate 0 are riveted to the bulkheads, in the form of construction shown, by a continuous row of rivets (Z and said angle plates are also employed in connecting the bulkhead with the deck a as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the rivets which secure the parts 0 to the deck are arranged in the deck a in a continuous S-shaped curve, the same as that employed in connecting said angle plates with the sides and bottom of the hull of the ship.

The use of angle plates of the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and a, for connecting the bulkhead or bulkheads with the hull of the ship is not absolutely necessary, and angle plates similar to that shown in Fig. 5 may be employed in which the parts 0 are triangular in form, and with this form of attaching plates, the lines of rivets in the hullor shell thereof would be arranged in a zig-Zag line around said hull which would cross the central plane of the bulkhead or bulkheads instead of a continuous S shaped line, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

It will be understood that this improvement may be applied to a ship having any number of bulkheads arranged transversely, as well as bulkheads running longitudinally of the hull, in which case, the longitudinal and transverse bulkheads may be connected in any preferred manner.

With this improvement, the stress or strain on the hull, occasioned by a row of rivets extending around the hull in the plane of the bulkhead or bulkheads, instead of being exerted in a single transverse line, as heretofore, is exerted over a much greater space longitudinally of the hull, and the danger of breaking the hull transversely-in the plane of the bulkhead or bulkheads is largely obviated, as will be readily under stood, and the strain on the bulkhead or bulkheads themselves is also reduced.

It will be understood, of course, that the bulkheads and attaching plates by which said bulkheads are secured to the body of the hull, are thoroughly calked in the usual manner so as to produce a liquid tight connection between said bulkheads and the body of the hull, and I also preferably employ rivets 6 arranged closely adjacent to the throat of the angle plates 0 and in the parts 0 of said plates and which are passed through the hull, and which serves to hold the parts 0 of said plates firmly in connection with the hull and two or more of these rivets may be employed in connection with the parts 0 of said angle plates.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A ship the hull of which is composed of sheet metal and provided with a transverse bulkhead or bulkheads which are secured to the hull by means of angle plates arranged alternately on opposite sides of the bulkhead or bulkheads, said angle plates being composed of parts which fit against the inner sides of the hull, and with other parts which fit against the opposite sides of the bulkhead or bulkheads and are riveted thereto, the parts of said angle plates which fit against the inner sides of the hull being secured thereto by a continuous S-shaped or zig-zag line of rivets extending around the hull and crossing the central plane of the bulkhead or bulkheads.

2. A ship the hull of which is provided with a transverse bulkhead or bulkheads secured thereto by angle plates arranged alternately on opposite sides of the bulkhead or bulkheads and composed of parts which fit against the inner side of the hull, and other parts which fit against the opposite sides of the bulkhead or bulkheads, the ends of said angle plates on the opposite sides of the bulkhead or bulkheads being overlapped, and the parts thereof which fit against the bulkhead or bulkheads being riveted thereto,

and the parts which fit against the hull bemy invention I have signed my name in ing secured thereto by a continuous 8- presence of the subscribing Witnesses this shaped or zig-zag line of rivets extending 5th day of November, 1913.

entirely around the girth of the hull and SAMUEL HOLMES. 5 crossing the central plane of the bulkhead Witnesses:

or bulkheads. C. MULREANY, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as S. ANDREWS.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

